*Chess Kids.On the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border, one of the most surprising success stories in sports is being written. With a population of 175,000 that is 90% Hispanic, Brownsville has rocked the quiet world of chess by turning young players into champions. Launched as a morning pre-school activity at Russell Elementary School in 1990 by educator Jose Juan Guajardo, chess quickly grew in popularity. Within a few years, elementary schools were winning state titles, with middle and high school championships not far behind. As prodigies from hardscrabble, academically struggling city schools accumulated national titles, even the local college program distinguished itself, ranking among the nation’s best teams. REAL SPORTS correspondent Mary Carillo journeys to Brownsville to see how one of the most impoverished cities in the country rallied around the sport and carved out a niche as a hotbed of chess – one pawn at a time.

Producer: Lisa Bennett.

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 12 times in its 15 years, and is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism by Columbia University.

The executive producers of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.

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